Barbara's Blog

Getting people to do what we think they should do

Usually we think everything would be better if our partner or child or parent just did what we think they should do. But think again. If we think like this, well just remember, they probably think like this too. Other people - meaning our partners and children and parents - also have all kinds of ideas about how life would be better if we just did what they think we "should" do! So it works both ways. And how would you feel if you had to do what other people think you "should" do...? You wouldn't like it would you? Not one bit... because you want to be free don't you? You want to do what you do, don't you? Well I know that I sure do...

The more I think about it, the more I can see that all our "should" stuff is pretty crazy. In fact, just think how crazy the world would be if we all had to do what other people think we "should" do... or if other people had to do what we think they "should" do... the whole world would just implode!

So really we can thank God that we can't get other people to do what we think they should do...  just like other people can't get us to do what they think we should do... because we're not running the show... and neither are they.

God's running the show! And that's just great isn't it?

The Power of Silence

Silence is food for the soul, a gift from God. Without silence, we may wither, become confused, or fail to realize our full potential.

   Silence is a wonderful place where wonderful things happen...  Silence is where we get in touch with our inner voice, our intuition, our deepest feelings, dreams, and desires...  Silence is where we find the answers to questions that trouble us and the solutions to problems that seem insoluble.

   So don't be afraid of silence. Seek it out. Because silence is your friend. Silence is a true blessing.

   Unfortunately, many people fear silence because they do not realize that silence is their friend. A place of power, a magic garden, a sacred haven, where they can regroup, recharge, and revitalize their energy. So they only feel comfortable when they are surrounded by incessant activity, noise, talk, music, television, and the frantic pace of city life. When such people are not working, they're talking on the phone, making plans, watching television, meeting friends, going out, doing things. They're always busy and have forgotten the importance of maintaining a harmonious balance between activity and rest.

   Often there is the mistaken idea that something is wrong with us if we're not doing something all the time. Are you like this? Do you believe you've got to be "productive", "active" all the time? If this is your program, I suggest you do yourself a big favor and let this idea go, because not only are you missing one of life's true pleasures, you are missing a God-given place of power. So please be clear about this: You are dissipating your life force and your creative energy if you never take time to renew yourself through silence.

Do you fear silence? To fear silence is to fear yourself.

You can't stop freedom

I remember when we were leaving my publisher's house in Prague after she had told us about growing up in Czechoslovakia under the communist regime and then we were talking about China and she said, "You can't stop freedom." 

And it's a comforting thought indeed. But it also made me think that even though I thought there were way TOO MANY tourists in Prague, I realized that all these tourists are doing God's work there too. Because they are bringing the freedom vibration from the West to these freedom-hungry people. For me this is a new way of looking at the tourist phenomenon because usually I think it's pretty overwhelming. (The beautiful streets of the old city of Prague are jampacked with tourists - and I mean really jampacked!)  But now when I think about it I can see that well all these backpackers and Italians and Japanese - and all the McDonalds and cash machines and Starbucks... in a way it's just great. Because it's that funky freedom vibe...  and there's no stopping freedom.

Everyone wants to be free. Like the two 14-year-old girls I saw in the park on rollerblades, wearing tight jeans and headscarfs and listening to their iPods....Freedom!

Back from Prague

Hi friends... we're back from a lovely time in Prague, meeting my wonderful publisher there and giving some talks to my readers...

But I have to say, Prague really made a deep impression on me. And not particularly because it's such a beautiful city... Yes it's easy to see why everyone uses it as a movie set!

What made the biggest impression on me was the realization that the people living there haven't been free for a very long time. My publisher and her friends told us a lot about how it was to grow up in a country that wasn't free. I mean can you imagine how that must be? Not to be able to travel. Not to be able to go where you want and do what you want. Not to be able to speak out freely. It's a hair-raising thought...

For us who live in the West, freedom is something we take for granted. We just have it. But the people in Prague and the rest of Eastern Europe - they didn't have freedom until recently. My publisher told us the most amazing stories about growing up there...

And when you think about it, before the Soviet Union occupied the Czech Republic there were the Germans and the Second World War and all those horrors. You can certainly still feel that energy. It's hard to explain, but it's there in the faces of the older generation... and in the streets, for example in the old Jewish ghetto in the center of Prague.  It really made a deep impression on me.

Thank God we are FREE!

Hello from Prague

Hi friends,

If you live in Prague, we're visiting YOU! Tim and I will be speaking at the book fair here in Prague tomorrow (Saturday) at 2 pm - check Metafora's stand for details. And then on Monday we'll be giving a talk at Luxor - the big bookstore in the center of town.

So if you are close by, please come and say hi.

Love,

Barbara

The true story behind Fast Food for the Soul

Hi friends,

If you want to read the true story behind my Fast Food for the Soul books and how everyone rejected them... just click on the link below!

http://www.beamteam.com/en/barbara/Barbara_story.html

And enjoy!

Check this out...

Check this video on YouTube out... it is truly amazing... This neuro-scientist tells about what happened to her when she had a stroke and observed her left brain shutting down... The left brain is the linear logical side of our brain... and all she had left was the right side which is our unity consciousness... quite an amazing story. It seems there are all kinds of ways to get enlightened!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU

Tim's top 10

I thought you would enjoy Tim's top 10 reality checks for staying conscious in a relationship. So here they are:

1) I can't make you happy (that's your job).

2) I can't make you unhappy (that's also your job).

3) I can't give you anything you don't already have.

4) I can't save you from your life.

5) We have no future together (only this moment).

6) I can't promise you anything except that I can't promise you anything.

7) I will be faithful until I'm not faithful anymore.

8) I want you to do exactly what you're doing (because you'll do exactly what you're doing anyway).

9) No matter how hard you try, I'm never going to change. What you see is what you get.

10) I love you - and that doesn't mean that I'll do what you want me to do.

Interesting... right!

The way the mind works is gender-free

Do you realize that the way the mind works is gender-free? By this I mean that the nature of consciousness and the way the mind works is a natural universal law which applies to everyone, regardless of their sex. In fact, the nature of reality, the nature of mind doesn't know the difference between men and women! I believe this is worth thinking about...

This means that the laws of mind that I write about all the time in my books are valid for all of us. There are no exceptions. Each and every one of us experiences what we think, whether we're male or female. If our thoughts are desperate or despairing, we feel desperation and despair - whether or not we're male or female. If our thoughts or delightful and beautiful, we feel delight and beauty - whether or not we're male or female. Each one of us experiences what we focus our attention on - whether we're male or female. Each one of us can only experience what's going on in our own minds - whether we're male or female.

Now this is very interesting especially when you think about the fact that almost everyone in the whole world believes men and women are different. But is that true? Are men and women different? What do you think?

Clearing out old stuff

Did you ever think that maybe when you're feeling bad about something that it's old stuff coming up to the surface to be cleared?

Here's what I've noticed. We move higher in consciousness and think oh wow, I'm feeling so much better. And then we feel lousy again and feel disappointed in ourselves. And we think, how can this be happening to me again? Just when I thought I was feeling better? How come I'm feeling lousy again?

In my experience, this just seems to be the way of it. Sometimes up and sometimes down - and it's all part of the process of waking up. You feel better for a while and then stuff comes up again. And often it's old stuff that's coming to the surface so you can look at it again in the light of your new understanding and new awareness.

Sometimes this can be very confusing because when the old erroneous beliefs come up again, the experience can be so powerful that you might think you're not making any progress at all and that you're not getting better at all.

But the reality is if you are questioning your old stories and bringing yourself back to the present moment over and over again - you are making progress and you are getting better. And if you can stay present and just observe what is going on with you and shine the light of present-moment awareness on whatever it is that is coming up... you will see that it does dissolve and fade away.

But it's important to be patient and kind with yourself and give yourself an extra hug. And then tell yourself over and over again...  NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME. And just watch and wait.